Towel dispenser



March 24, 1942. w; WEST 2,277,051-

TOWEL DISPENSER Filed April 16, 1938 4 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lllnnulll I III In veniar mil/red ZZ VI/2s Aliorny March 24, 1942. I w. H. WEST TOWEL DISPENSER Filed April 16, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jim. 6.

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e w m iiiiil" ill'lill w :1 Ow I a 5 :M 5 5 5 a 4/ 2 W J Zf m Patented'Mar. 24, 1942 TOWEL DISPENSER Wilfred H. West, San Francisco, Calif., assignor to Towlsaver, Inc., Los Angcles, Calif.

Application April 16, 1938, Serial No. 202,489

8 Claims.

This invention relates to and has for an object the provision of a towel dispenser which, through the instrumentality of a comparatively simple and inexpensive mechanism consisting of but few parts, will automatically become inoperative when a predetermined amount of toweling has been dispensed and cannot then be operated, without first moving the operating handle in a reverse direction from that required to dispense the toweling, whereby to prevent wasteful dispensing of the toweling, as is often practiced where the dispensing means may be repeatedly operated by continuing the rotation of the operating handle in one direction.

Another object of this'invention is to provide a dispensing control means consisting essentially of but two parts which operate responsive to rotation of a manually operable dispensing crank, when the latter has been rotated a predetermined extent in one direction, to automatically restrain the crank from further rotation in said direction,

and will release said crank only when th latter is moved in a reversed direction, the said mechanism being reliable in operation and entirely controlled through. movement of the crank,

whereby the dispensing member may be convena I iently operated with one hand.

I have shown in the accompanying drawings a preferred form of towel dispenser, embodying my invention, subject, however, to modification within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 represents a fragmentary perspective view of a towel-dispenser constructed in accord ance with this invention;

Fig- 2 represents a sectional view on the plane of line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 represents an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the dispenser;

Fig. 4 represents a view in elevation of the stop means as when in releasing position;

Fig. 5 represents a fragmentary elevation of the stop means as when moved into position to limit the dispensing operation;

Fig. 6 represents a view in elevation, of the stop means showing the parts in full lines as just before the dispensing operation is stopped and dotted lines as when locking the dispensing means against further operation;

Fig. 7 is an'enlarged sectional view of a modified form of the invention;

Fig. 8 is an elevation of the modified form shown in Fig. 7.

In accordance with this invention I provide a shoulders 2| and 22 adapted, to cooperate with then operable in the ordinary manner.

dispensing cabinet I adapted to contain aroll of toweling 2 from which-strips aretorn when the toweling is extended'through a dispensing opening 3. The toweling extends between and is frictionallyengaged by feed rollers 4 and 5 mounted in a frame 6 removably housed in the cabinet. The roller 4, as here shown, is in frictional contact with roller 5 and is driven by gears and 8. The gear 1 is mounted for rotation upon the innerside of a wall 9 of the frame 6 on a stud shaft Hi. This stud shaft projects through the wall 9 and a corresponding wall ll of the cabinet and has a crank l2 fixed to its outer end, whereby upon rotation of the shaft the gear I meshing with gear 8 on the roller 4 will cause said rollers to be rotated, whereby to effect a dispensing operation. L

Means is provided, in accordance with this invention, for automatically arresting the dispensing operation when a predetermined length of toweling has been dispensed, which means may be released only by moving the operating crank reversely, whereupon the dispensing means, is As here shown, this means comprises a dog l3 having a slot l4 receiving a pivot l5 fixed to the wall 9. A spring metal disc or like memberlfiis associated with the pivot so as to frictionally hold the dog in any position to which'it is moved. On its ends the dog is provided with stopprojections l1 and I8 which are adapted to engage a peripheral projection I9 of a stop member 20 fixed for rotation with the shaft l0 between the walls 9 and At the ends of this projection 19 are stop the projections l1 and I8. I g g Normally, as will be seen with reference to Fig. 1 the stop mechanism is in position to lock the dispensing means against operation to dispense toweling, the shoulder 2| being engaged with the projection for, such purpose.

To release thestop niechanismin order that a dispensing operation may be carried out, the crank I2 is moved in a counter-clockwise direction, and the shoulder 22 of member 20 will encounter the projection I8 and thereby move the dog I3 bodily, rearwardly and also rock the dog on its pivot so that the projection U will be raised clear of the shoulder 2| and. the parts will assume the released position shown in Fig. 4. The operator may now move the crank I2 in a clockwise direction, whereby to operate the dispensing means in the usual manner. 'When the crank has been turned through the major portion of one revolution the shoulder 2| will enelement. cludes a cabinet 39 on the exterior of which a counter the rounded end 23 of the dog and thereby rock said dog on its pivdt and into the position shown in Fig. 5 to dispose the projection IT in the path of movement of the shoulder 2|. It is thus seen that when the shoulder 2i encounters the projection IT, as shown in Fig. 6, the end of the dog carrying the projection I1 is moved forwardly and downwardly so that said projection I1 and shoulder 2| will be lockingly engaged, as shown in Fig. 1, and the projection I8 is disposed in the path of movement of the shoulder 22. Thus, when the crank I2 is reversed, the shoulder 22 will encounter the projection l8 and release the mechanism, as previously described. It should be noted that the friction pivot arrangement provides for a free pivotal and sliding movement of the dog, but maintains the dog against unintentional movement from any position to which it is moved,

whereby the stop mechanism will operate in a reliable manner at all times;

A dog 24 is pivoted as at 25 upon the wall 9 and is adapted to be moved into and. out of engagement with the teeth of the gear 1 by means of the friction fingers 26 contacting opposite sides of said gear. When the gear I is turned in a reversed direction to that required to effect a dispensing operation, the fingers 26 will cause the dog 24 to move into locking position, whereby but alimited reversed movement will be permitted the dispensing mechanism, this movement being sufiicient however, to release the stop means as aforesaid.

It will be noted that the projection l8 on the dog I 3 will ride upon the periphery of the stop member 28 during a dispensing operation. This tends to move the dog l3 bodily and pivotally so that in some instances, in spite of the friction of the spring disc IS, the projections l1 and I8 would be disposed in inoperative positions with respect to the shoulders 2| and 22 To prevent such unintentional movement of the dog l3 the latter is provided with a projection 21 which is adapted to ride upon the periphery of an arcuate stop portion 28 formed on the outer face of the stop member 20. With reference to Figs. 1, 4, 5 and 6, it is seen that during the time that the projection l8 rides upon the periphery of the member 20, excepting the projection [9, the projection 21 will engage the periphery of the member 28 which is concentric with said periphery of the member 20 and thereby prevent unintentional movement of the dog l3. During the time that the projection I9 is disposed near and between the projections l1 and I8, the projection 21 is clear of the stop portion 28, as clearly shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6.

Referring to Figs. 7 and 8, the modified form comprehends-the same arrangements and mode of operation as the first described form, but provides the rotatable stop member as a part of the main driving gear instead of as a separate As here shown, this modification indispensing roller frictionally drives a similar roll- -er'31. Upon rotation of the crank 30 the rollers 36 and 3! will be drivenwhereby to dispense toweling in the samemanner as described in connection with the form of the invention hereinbefore described. The gear 34 is stampedso as to provide a projection 38 on one face thereof corresponding to the projection 19. This projection 38 is provided with shoulders 39 and 40 corresponding to the shoulders 2| and 22. A dog 4! is pivoted as at 42 to the cabinet 39 in the same manner as the dog l3 and is provided with projections 43 and 44 on opposite sides of its pivot and. which correspond to projections I! and I8 of the dog l3. This form of the invention operates in the same manner as the one first described herein, and may in some instances be more desirable than the latter, in that it embodies the stop member and driving gear as one unit.

I claim:

1. A towel dispenser comprising a cabinet adapted to contain toweling and having a dispensing opening, means for dispensing toweling through said opening including a manually r0- tatable operating member disposed exteriorly of said cabinet, and stop means for controlling said dispensing means including a dog pivotally and bodily movable mounted on said cabinet, and a stop member mounted to rotate with said operating member and cooperating portions on said dog and stop member for stopping the operation of said dispensing means when a predetermined amount of toweling has been dispensed and for releasing said dispensing means when the operating member is moved in a direction other than that required to dispense toweling.

2. A towel dispenser comprising a cabinet adapted to contain toweling and having a dispensing opening, means for dispensing toweling through said opening including a manually r0- tatable operating member, and stop means for controlling said dispensing means including a dog pivotally and bodily adjustable mounted on said cabinet and having stop portions on opposite sides of the pivot therefor, and a stop member mounted to rotate with said operating member and having stop shoulders of which one is adapted to engage a stop portion of said dog to lock said dispensing means against dispensing operation, and the other of which is adapted to engage the other stop portion of said dog and bodily and pivotally move said dog out of said locking position when the dispensing means is reversely rotated, said first named shoulder being further operative to successively engage the second named stop portion of said dog during a dispensing operation, to effect a pivotal movement of the dog from released position into locking position and the engagement of the first named shoulder and first named stop portion operative to dispose the second named stop portion in position to be engaged by said second named shoulder upon said reverse movement of the dispensing means.

3. A towel dispenser comprising a cabinet adapted to contain toweling and having a. dis pensing opening, a dispensing means for said toweling including coacting rollers, coacting gears for driving said rollers, a crank for rotating one of said gears, a stop member formed integrally with one of said gears and having stop shoulders, and a dog pivotally and bodily movably mounted in said cabinet and having stop portions on opposite sides 'of its pivot one of which is adapted to be engaged by one of said shoulders upon a predetermined rotation of said one gear in a direction to dispense toweling, to move the dog pivotally and bodily into position to lock the dispensing means, one of said shoulders operating to engage one of said stop portions to move the dog into releasing position when said one gear is rotated in a reverse direction.

4. A towel dispenser comprising: a cabinet adapted to contain a supply of toweling and having a dispensing opening, releasable stop means for automatically arresting dispensing of toweling when a predetermined amount thereof has been dispensed from said cabinet, manually operable means movable in one direction for dispensing said toweling and in another direction for releasing said stop means, including a handle movable in said two directions eXteriorly of said cabinet, said releasable stop means including a dog pivotally and bodily movable on the cabinet, a stop member operatively connected to and rotating with said handle and cooperating portions on said dog and stop member which automatically stop the operation of the dispensing means and automatically release said dispensing means responsive to said two movements of said handle.

5. A towel dispenser comprising: a cabinet adapted to contain toweling and having a dispensing opening, means for dispensing toweling through said opening including a manually rotatable operating member, stop means for controlling said dispensing means including a dog mounted on said cabinet for pivotal and bodily movement and having stop portions on opposite sides of its pivot, and a stop member rotatable with said operating member and having spaced stop shoulders adapted for engagement, respectively, with said stop portions upon movement of the operating member in opposite directions for pivotally and bodily moving said stop means so that one of said stop portions will be engaged with one of said shoulders and said other stop portion disengaged from said other shoulder when said operating member is reversely rotated.

6. A towel dispenser comprising: a cabinet adapted to contain toweling and having a dispensing opening, means for dispensing toweling through said opening including a manually rotatable operating member, stop means for controlling said dispensing means including a dog mounted on said cabinet for pivotal and bodily movement and having stop portions on opposite sides of its pivot, and a stop member rotatable with said operating member and having spaced stop shoulders adapted for engagement, respectively, with said stop portions upon movement of the operating member in opposite directions for pivotally and bodily moving said stop means so that one of said stop portions will be, engaged with one of said shoulders and said other stop portion disengaged from said other shoulder when said operating member is reversely rotated, said stop means having a cam surface rearwardly of its leading stop portion engageable with the leading shoulder on said rotatable stop member when the operating member is turned so as to dispense toweling for moving said stop means so as to position the leading stop portion for engagement by the leading shoulder, and thus limit a dispensing operation.

7. A towel dispenser comprising: a cabinet adapted to contain toweling and having a dispensing opening, means for dispensing toweling through said opening including amanually rotatable operating member, stop means for controlling said dispensing means including a dog mounted on said cabinet for pivotal and bodily movement and having stop portions on opposite sides of its pivot, and a stop member rotatable with said operating member and having spaced stop shoulders adapted for engagement, respectively, with said stop portions upon movement of the operating member in opposite directions for pivotally and bodily moving said stop means so that one of said stop portions will be engaged with one of said shoulders and said other stop portion disengaged from said other shoulder when said operating member is reversely rotated, said stop means having a cam surface rearwardly of its leading stop portion engageable with the leading shoulder on said rotatable stop member when the operating member is turned so as to dispense toweling for moving said stop means so as to position the leading stop portion for engagement by the leading shoulder, and thus limit a dispensing operation, a reverse movement of said operating member serving to release said rotatable member from said stop means and to release the mechanism for another dispensing operation.

8. A towel dispenser comprising: a cabinet adapted to contain toweling and having a dispensing opening, means for dispensing toweling through said opening including a manually rotatable operating member, stop means for controlling said dispensing means including a dog mounted on said cabinet for pivotal and bodily movement and having stop portions on opposite sides of its pivot, and a stop member rotatable with said operating member and having spaced stop shoulders adapted for engagement, respectively, with said stop portions upon movement of the operating member in opposite directions for pivotally and bodily moving said stop means so that one of said stop portions will be engaged with one of said shoulders and'said other stop portion disengaged from said other shoulder when said operating 1 member is reversely rotated, said rotatable stop member having a peripheral portion intermediate said shoulders serving to prevent the displacement of said stop means from adjusted positions during a portion of a revolution thereof.

WILFRED H. WEST. 

